Page 64 of Heartthrobs Don't Date Wallflowers
“Zach?” I recognized it as Finn’s voice, even muffled as it was through the door. “You in there, man?”
We hadn’t really talked about what our plans were as far as telling the boys about us. They obviously knew about Zach’s confession at the concert, but I didn’t think he’d told the boys yet. It wasn’t necessarily that we werehidingit… except it totally was like that.
“Ivy…” Zach whispered. His hand slid up to gently cover my mouth. “Don’t. Make. A. Sound.”
I nodded, trying to hold back my nervous laughter. This was so ridiculous.
“Yeah, I’m here,” Zach called out, his voice steady and even. Out of the two of us, he would definitely make the better spy. “What’s up?”
“Are you coming to lunch? We’re ordering pizza.”
“In a bit. I’m busy.”
“Doing what?”
“Homework,” Zach said, without missing a beat.
There was a pause. “Okay, well… don’t take too long.”
Zach waited a full thirty seconds before he let his hand drop away from my mouth and the second he did, I started laughing.
“See, this is why I had to cover your mouth,” he said. That only made me laugh harder. “You really need to work on your sneaking skills.
“Hey, I thought I did pretty well with the whole climbing-through-a-window thing!”
“Youfellthrough my window.”
“Details.”
Zach leaned down to kiss me again, his lips soft and gentle, pulling me into that same comforting warmth I’d gotten lost in earlier. I hooked my arms around his neck, deepening the kiss just as he shifted his hands to my waist, tugging me closer. I could’ve stayed like that for hours, soaking up every second of this moment, but the universe, again, had other plans, as there was another knock on the door.
Can’t a girl kiss her boyfriend in peace?
The doorknob jiggled and my heart leapt into my throat. This was not how I wanted on being introduced to the band as Zach’s girlfriend. The good news was, Zach must have locked the door because it didn’t open. The bad news was that there was another knock, this time louder.
And in my moment of panic, I did what any self-respecting teen girl would do: I dove under his bed.
Okay, maybe not my best plan because it became immediately obvious that Zach didn’t vacuum under here enough. But I was stuck here, because Zach was already opening the door and Iwasn’t looking to explain to someone why I was coming out from under his bed.
“Finn wants you downstairs.” That was Jude’s voice. I wasn’t sure if it was the best-case or worst-case scenario that the boy at the door was the only other person in this house who knew who I was.
“I’ll be down in a minute,” Zach replied. I guess I’d chosen the worst possible time to sneak over here. I hoped Jude would accept that and leave like Finn had, but my heart sunk as I heard footsteps coming inside. “Don’t?—”
“I was instructed not to come down without you,” Jude said jovially. His shoes came into view, not two feet from my face. If Jude looked down—just one glance under the bed—he’d see me.
No, he’d probablyhearmy heart hammering at this point.
“Why does Finn want me downstairs so badly?” Zach groaned.
“Oh, you know Finn. Wants us to have family meals and all that.”
“I…” Zach sounded like he was floundering. I wished I could tell him to just go down and that I’d figure it out, but obviously I couldn’t do that without tipping Jude off to me being here. He must have read my mind though, because he sighed and said, “Okay, come on, let’s go.”
“You go. I’ll catch up.”
“I’m not leaving you alone in my room.”
“Why? You don’t trust me?”
